232 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



Alexander Wilson the Avocet, Stilt and other waders, "which 

 are becoming rare in our days were then quite plentiful." 

 De Kay (1844) rates the Avocet as quite rare in New York 

 State, and it is probable that it was never very common in 

 New England, although it has been recorded north to the 

 Bay of Fundy. Its large size, confiding nature and striking 

 plumage made it a shining mark for the gunner, and it has 

 long since disappeared as a breeder on the Atlantic coast, and 

 now is regarded in New England as a rare straggler from the 

 west. Two are said to have been taken years ago on the 

 Lynn marshes.^ One was taken at Lake Cochituate, Natick, 

 October 19, 1880.- Three were shot at Ipswich, September 

 13, 1896, by Mr. A. B. Clark.^ There Is one Maine record, but 

 no others for New England. There are some museum speci- 

 mens credited to New York, but no definite records. 



The long legs of the Avocet enable it to wade in deeper 

 water than most birds, and its webbed feet fit it for swimming 

 whenever it gets out of its depth. On the Atlantic coast it 

 was found usually about salt marshes, and bred there. It 

 feeds by immersing head and neck and probing in the ooze 

 of the bottom with its curious bill. Its food while here was 

 snails, marine worms and insects, according to Wilson. Elliot 

 says that its food consists of insects, small crustaceans, etc. 

 Henshaw found the larvae of water insects in the crops of 

 those examined. 



The passing of this curious large and showy wader from 

 the Atlantic coast is a matter of regret to all lovers of nature. 



1 Osgood, Fletcher: Shooting and Fishing, 1890, p. 11. 



2 Purdie, Henry A.: Bull. Nuttall Orn. Club, 1881, p. 123. 



3 Kennard, F. H.: Auk, 1897, p. 212. 



